Solar Energy

Space weather and solar blobs

Published

4 years ago

May 7, 2021

sarosh

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have received three awards from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) totaling over $2 million to conduct research that could help predict the potentially damaging effects of blasts of subatomic particles from the sun.

The three-year awards will fund research into a process known as magnetic reconnection, the coming together and explosive separation of magnetic field lines in plasma, that occurs throughout the universe. Scientists conjecture that magnetic reconnection helps cause the blasts, which produce vast amounts of electrically charged subatomic particles known as plasma. The onrush of particles, part of what is known as space weather, can interfere with communications satellites and electrical grids on Earth.

The awards will also support research into a type of plasma blob that can periodically bubble up on the solar surface and emit an energetic variety of x-ray light.

Two of the awards will help PPPL scientists investigate whether a type of electromagnetic wave can cause magnetic reconnection. “This research will be an extension of my previous experiments involving these lower hybrid drift waves,” said PPPL research physicist Jongsoo Yoo, referring to previous research on the strong plasma waves who received one of the grants. “”If we can show that these waves lead to fast magnetic reconnection, that would be a big breakthrough. Finding out what causes the onset of fast magnetic reconnection is very important for space weather forecasting.”

Yoo and a researcher from the University of Maryland-College Park will analyze data produced by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS), a group of four spacecraft flying in formation to study reconnection in the magnetosphere, the magnetic field that surrounds Earth. The team will determine which MMS information could be important to consider for laboratory experiments using PPPL’s Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX), a device resembling an enormous silvery barrel tipped on its side.

Using MRX, the team hopes to recreate conditions in the magnetosphere that occur in conjunction with reconnection and study which phenomena might be responsible. Yoo’s hunch is that lower hybrid drift waves could heat electrons in the plasma and cause the onset of fast magnetic reconnection. “”We would be thrilled if we could eventually say that if you detect these waves in space, you could reasonably predict that reconnection will follow.””

This research follows up experiments from 20 years ago, when scientists came to a different conclusion. “We first observed these waves in MRX in 2001 and in 2010 concluded that they did not contribute much to reconnection,” said principal PPPL physicist Hantao Ji, a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University and recipient of a grant for related research. “Now, 10 years later, we found that the waves can indeed be important under certain conditions. So, we decided to revisit the same subject after a 20-year hiatus but under new conditions and with new data from both MMS and MRX.”

The third award was given to PPPL principal physicist Masaaki Yamada, distinguished research fellow and principal investigator of the MRX. He will use the grant to run tests using MRX to determine whether a kind of magnetic configuration could help explain the blobs of plasma that bubble up on the sun’s surface and emit x-ray light.

Yamada and his research team will shoot a smoke-ring-shaped puff of plasma with a pattern of magnetic fields known as a spheromak into MRX using a kind of gun. They will then study the plasma to determine whether it emits high-energy particles, like x-rays.

The spheromak was originally designed for fusion reactors. “I worked on the concept almost 30 years ago,” said Yamada. “We confirmed that a device based on the spheromak idea could help lead to fusion. We built a device known as S-1, but it did not confine the plasma well.”

Now, the spheromak concept has reappeared as a possible explanation for solar events. “Dr. Spiro Antiochos from NASA Goddard gave a talk at PPPL a few years ago about giant, dome-shaped flares the size of Earth that appear on the sun and emit x-rays,” Yamada said. “No one has yet discovered a clear mechanism to explain why these emissions happen. Since the spheromak configuration can occur in nature, I thought similar configurations on the sun might spur these blobs to form.”

After the talk, Yamada, PPPL physicist Elena Belova and undergraduate Princeton University student Joshua Latham ran computer simulations investigating whether the spheromak magnetic configuration could lead to x-ray emitting blobs that occur on the sun, and confirmed that they could. The team will use their grant to conduct real-life experiments verifying the simulation results using MRX.

Unlike tokamaks, a popular type of fusion reactor shaped like a doughnut that is used around the world, a spheromak does not have a central hole for a large magnet that creates magnetic fields to help confine the plasma. Instead, a spheromak is more like a unitary fireball and creates necessary magnetic fields from the electrical currents that naturally flow through it.

The three awards will extend PPPL’s extensive history in space and astrophysical research involving reconnection. The Laboratory, which has been collaborating with the MMS mission since it launched in 2015, is now installing the Facility for Laboratory Reconnection Experiment (FLARE), a new and more powerful version of MRX. The $4.3 million device will probe facets of magnetic reconnection that have never before been accessible to laboratory experiments.

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Solar Energy

A single molecule elevates solar module output and stability

Published

1 day ago

April 24, 2025

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A single molecule elevates solar module output and stability

by Sophie Jenkins

London, UK (SPX) Apr 24, 2025

A new molecule developed through international collaboration has been shown to significantly improve both the performance and durability of perovskite solar cells, according to a recent study published in *Science*. The discovery centers on a synthetic ionic salt named CPMAC, which originates from buckminsterfullerene (C60) and has been shown to outperform traditional C60 in solar applications.

Researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) played a key role in the development of CPMAC. While C60 has long been used in perovskite solar cells due to its favorable electronic properties, it suffers from stability issues caused by weak van der Waals interactions at the interface with the perovskite layer. CPMAC was engineered to address these shortcomings.

“For over a decade, C60 has been an integral component in the development of perovskite solar cells. However, weak interactions at the perovskite/C60 interface lead to mechanical degradation that compromises long-term solar cell stability. To address this limitation, we designed a C60-derived ionic salt, CPMAC, to significantly enhance the stability of the perovskite solar cells,” explained Professor Osman Bakr, Executive Faculty of the KAUST Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST).

Unlike C60, CPMAC forms ionic bonds with the perovskite material, strengthening the electron transfer layer and thereby enhancing both structural stability and energy output. Cells incorporating CPMAC demonstrated a 0.6% improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to those using C60.

Though the gain in efficiency appears modest, the impact scales up dramatically in real-world energy production. “When we deal with the scale of a typical power station, the additional electricity generated even from a fraction of a percentage point is quite significant,” said Hongwei Zhu, a research scientist at KAUST.

Beyond efficiency gains, CPMAC also enhanced device longevity. Under accelerated aging tests involving high heat and humidity over 2,000 hours, solar cells containing CPMAC retained a significantly higher portion of their efficiency. Specifically, their degradation was one third that observed in cells using conventional C60.

Further performance evaluation involved assembling the cells into four-cell modules, offering a closer approximation to commercial-scale solar panels. These tests reinforced the molecule’s advantage in both durability and output.

The key to CPMAC’s success lies in its capacity to reduce defects within the electron transfer layer, thanks to the formation of robust ionic bonds. This approach circumvents the limitations posed by van der Waals forces typical of unmodified C60 structures.

Research Report:C60-based ionic salt electron shuttle for high-performance inverted perovskite solar modules

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Solar Energy

Indonesia says China’s Huayou to replace LGES in EV battery project

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2025

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Indonesia says China’s Huayou to replace LGES in EV battery project

by AFP Staff Writers

Jakarta (AFP) April 23, 2025

China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is replacing South Korea’s LG Energy Solution as a strategic investor in a multibillion-dollar project to build an electric vehicle battery joint venture in Indonesia, officials said on Wednesday.

The South Korean company, which was part of a consortium that signed a 142 trillion rupiah ($8.4 billion) “Grand Project” in 2020, announced its withdrawal from the project this week, citing factors including market conditions and the investment environment.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said LG Energy Solution’s decision would not significantly affect the project, which aims to establish a local electric vehicle battery value chain in Indonesia.

“Changes only occur at the investor level, where LG no longer continue its involvement… and has been replaced by a strategic partner from China, namely Huayou,” Bahlil said in a statement.

“Nothing has changed from the initial goal, namely making Indonesia as the center of the world’s electric vehicle industry.”

Indonesia, home to the world’s largest nickel reserve, has been seeking to position itself as a key player in the global electric vehicle supply chain by leveraging its vast reserve of the critical mineral to attract investments.

The government decided not to move forward with the South Korean company in the project due to the long negotiation process with the firm to realise its investment, Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani said.

Rosan cited Huayou’s familiarity with Indonesia as one of the reasons why the government chose the company to succeed LG Energy Solution.

“Huayou had invested in Indonesia,” Rosan said.

“They have sources to develop the industry going forward.”

LG Energy Solution said in a statement on Tuesday that it will continue to explore “various avenues of collaboration” with the Indonesian government, including in its battery joint venture.

HLI Green Power, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group, operates Indonesia’s first electric vehicle battery plant, which was launched in 2024 with a production capacity of up to 10 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of cells annually.

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Solar Energy

Politecnico di Milano explores global potential of agrivoltaics for land use harmony

Published

2 days ago

April 23, 2025

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Politecnico di Milano explores global potential of agrivoltaics for land use harmony

by Erica Marchand

Paris, France (SPX) Apr 23, 2025

A research team from the Politecnico di Milano has presented new insights into how agrivoltaic systems could resolve growing tensions over land use between agricultural production and solar energy development. Led by Maddalena Curioni, Nikolas Galli, Giampaolo Manzolini, and Maria Cristina Rulli, the study demonstrates that integrating photovoltaic panels with crop cultivation can significantly mitigate land-use conflict while maintaining food output.

Published in the journal Earth’s Future, the study highlights that between 13% and 16% of existing ground-mounted solar installations have displaced former farmland, underscoring the competition for arable land. In contrast, the researchers propose that deploying agrivoltaic systems on between 22% and 35% of non-irrigated agricultural land could enable dual use without substantially affecting crop yields.

Using a spatial agro-hydrological model, the researchers simulated how 22 crop types respond to varying degrees of solar shading from photovoltaic panels. Their simulations covered a broad range of climates and geographies, generating a global suitability map for agrivoltaic deployment. The results underscore the feasibility of this approach in many regions, especially those with compatible crops and moderate solar intensity.

“Agrivoltaics cannot be applied everywhere, but according to our results, it would be possible to combine cultivation and energy production in many areas of the world without significant reductions in yield,” said Nikolas Galli, researcher at the Glob3Science Lab and co-author of the study.

Giampaolo Manzolini, professor in the Department of Energy, noted additional benefits: “Using the land for both cultivation and photovoltaic systems increases overall output per occupied surface area while reducing production costs. In addition, installing crops underneath the photovoltaic panels reduces the panel operating temperature and increases their efficiency.”

“This technology could help reduce land competition while improving the sustainability of agricultural and energy systems,” added Maria Cristina Rulli, who coordinated the research.

The team emphasizes that their findings could inform strategic policy decisions and investment strategies aimed at maximizing land productivity while supporting both food security and renewable energy goals.

Research Report:Global Land-Water Competition and Synergy Between Solar Energy and Agriculture